Video released of suspect sought in string of metro Detroit armed robberies

The Oakland County Sheriff's Office is looking for a suspect in a string of robberies of metro businesses since early December. The agency released video Thursday of an armed robbery of a Subway restaurant in Pontiac on Dec. 23.
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The Oakland County Sheriff's Office is looking for a suspect in a string of robberies of metro businesses since early December.(Photo: Oakland County Sheriff's Office)

The Oakland County Sheriff's Office is looking for a suspect in a string of robberies of metro businesses since early December.

The agency released video Thursday of an armed robbery of a Subway restaurant in Pontiac on Dec. 23.

According to a news release issued by the sheriff's department, officials believe the suspect in the video also is responsible for up to eight similar crimes from Dec. 8-24.

Seven of those incidents happened in Oakland County (two in Pontiac, two in Auburn Hills and three in Waterford Township), one in Livingston County and one in St. Clair County, according to the release.

The video depicts the second-to-most-recent incident, an armed robbery of a Pontiac Subway shop on the 200 block of Walton Blvd. on Dec. 23.

In that case, an employee told police that she was washing dishes in the back when she heard the front door open. She came to the front counter to find a man "pointing a handgun at her and demanded all of the cash from the cash register," the release said.

"Deputies interviewed the second victim who stated that he was in the men’s restroom and when he returned he observed the suspect standing at the cash register. The suspect pointed the gun at him, and he was directed by the suspect to go to the back room. The second victim activated the panic alarm, as the suspect left the establishment on foot with approximately $100."

The next day, police said, there was an attempted armed robbery of a Thrifty Florist in Pontiac by a man fitting the same description.

In all the incidents, the "descriptions and MO are the same," said Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.